Effective improvement and research rely on sustained multidisciplinary collaboration, but few examples are available of centres with the broad range of disciplines and practical experience that are needed to sustain long-term improvement in healthcare quality and safety. In a number of respects, the parlous state of the quality and safety of medical care resembles the problem of climate change....

The Swedish healthcare system, although being one of the more efficient care systems in the world with good medical outcomes at a moderate cost, faces tremendous future challenges. An ageing population with more patients suffering from multiple diseases together with accelerating medicotechnical developments is putting increasing pressure on the system. The quality and safety of the system has ...

INTRODUCTION The term 'second victim' refers to the healthcare professional who experiences emotional distress following an adverse event. This distress has been shown to be similar to that of the patient-the 'first victim'. The aim of this study was to investigate how healthcare professionals are affected by their involvement in adverse events with emphasis on the organisational support they n...

Lean Manufacturing system has been acknowledged by Indian industry as a capable system in enhancing organisational performance by focusing on elimination of waste from the manufacturing system and thus improving effectiveness of the organisation. But still in most of Indian industries it is currently used as improvement tool instead of adopting this concept as a culture. Though if used on full ...

OBJECTIVES To understand how frontline reports of day-to-day care failings might be better translated into improvement. DESIGN Qualitative evaluation of an interdisciplinary team intervention capitalising on the frontline experience of care delivery. Prospective clinical team surveillance (PCTS) involved structured interdisciplinary briefings to capture challenges in care delivery, facilitate...

T he role that organisations play in provoking or preventing accidents has been long studied in industry, but has only recently begun to gain attention in health care. But, understanding safety in complex socio-technical systems requires analysis at multiple levels, and each level is characteristically best approached by a different discipline. Because the relevant disciplines (such as sociolog...

BACKGROUND The United Kingdom (UK) lags behind other high-income countries in relation to technological innovation in healthcare. In order to inform UK strategy on how to catalyse innovation, we sought to understand what national strategies can help to promote a climate for innovation in healthcare settings by extracting lessons for the UK from international innovators. METHODS We undertook a...

In their valuable discussion of whistleblowing in healthcare organisations, Mannion and Davies highlight the importance of organisational culture in influencing whether people raise concerns, and whether these concerns are listened to and acted upon. The role of leadership in shaping organisational culture is well-established and in this commentary, we will examine the influence of leaders in c...